Walking in a Winter Wonderland
by The Convergence
Summary: For Liza. A bump on the head sends Mason into a dream, filled with the familiar and the strange. He meets someone he was not expecting.


**The Convergence Secret Santa 2016**

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 **For:** Liza  
 **Characters:** Mason, Jenna  
 **Other Characters Used:** It's a surprise. I'll leave you to your deductions.  
 **Rating:** K+  
 **Genre(s):** Family  
 **Message to your person:** Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy!

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 **Walking in a Winter Wonderland**

 _A bump on the head sends Mason into a dream, filled with the familiar and the strange. He meets someone he was not expecting._

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The last thing Mason Jay Winters remembered was sharp pain in his head. Something had fallen maybe, hit him? He couldn't quite remember. It wasn't really precedent at this point in time. Because the harshly cold world he'd just been in had given way to something slightly more pleasant. He was lying down in the snow, but it wasn't cold. Just soft. And there was no pain, his body was intact. Before he even opened his eyes, he reached out with the Force, finding it a comforting presence around him. There was a person nearby. Unknown, yet meaning no harm. A curiosity.

The person spoke not a moment later. "Wake up, bud…unless you just want to lie on the ground in the snow all day, that's fine too."

Mason's brown eyes flew open at the voice. It wasn't the familiar accent of Peter Pan, or any other voice he knew. But it wasn't foreign. He propped himself on his hands and took a look around. He paid little attention to the almost winter wonderland scene he'd found himself in, instead focusing in on the source of the voice.

The young man was tall, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He sported a knowing smirk and made an impatient gesture that suggested Mason should stand up. "Come on, we don't have all day."

Mason complied and pushed himself up off of the ground. He dusted the snow off, and carefully approached the familiar stranger. It was like seeing a ghost. A ghost of flesh and blood. He spoke quietly, but his brown eyes were more curious than anything. "It's you, I've seen pictures…but I…"

"'course it's me. You expected someone else to invade your concussion dreams?" He was still smiling, though it had gone from a smirk into something quite fond.

"Kinda. Maybe. I don't know." Mason stopped a few feet away and crossed his arms. "This feels real, but you can't be here. You…well…you died."

Jaxon Barrett Winters stepped closer, eye to eye with his little brother, who'd already lived longer than he had. His features had gone soft. He reached to squeeze Mason's shoulder. "I did die, and it wasn't that fun from what I remember. That doesn't mean this here can't be real, I'll bring you up to speed. Let's take a walk?"

Mason pursed his lips briefly but settled into a casual walk with the other boy. The world was a quiet and still, beautiful in every sense of the word. Almost perfect. The evergreens were covered in snow and decorated for Christmas with tinsel, ornaments, and lights. He could see reindeer a hundred yards off, and there were red cardinals quietly chirping from their nests of twigs. It was strange. But comforting and peaceful. Like being home for a special holiday. Maybe this was…Heaven or something? He didn't know what was next when the worldborns died, where their essence or life force went. Maybe they didn't go anywhere. Maybe they did. His brow furrowed as he thought. "Am I dead?"

Jaxon laughed. "No, course not! Not yet at least. You just got whacked on the head. Little bump for the little brother. You'll be conscious soon enough. Just figured I'd swing in for a chat first."

"So you're…" Mason paused. "Do I even want to know what's going on? And if I do, will you tell me what this is"

"Probably not," Jaxon replied with a casual shrug. "You'll figure it out or believe what you wish. Mind if I ask you a couple questions now?"

Mason paused again, glancing over at the other. He was having a hard time not staring, at the very least. Jaxon was there, right there with him. This whole thing seemed like a dream. Maybe it was better to just let it happen. "That's okay, I guess."

"How's Mom?"

There was another pause. "She's doing really well, yeah," Mason replied. "She and my dad are…really happy together. She misses you though, a lot, more than she ever says out loud. She won't talk about it much, she took your death really hard. But she's found peace and family again."

Jaxon smiled thoughtfully. "Good, she deserves that. After all she's been through, my own death included, a happy ending seems just about right. I was worried, I never wanted to leave her alone."

"It wasn't your fault. Bad things just happen sometimes."

"I know, death takes us all eventually. Some sooner than others." He paused thoughtfully, but was neither sorrowed nor guilty. "And Dominque? How's she?"

Mason let out a slow breath, trying to gauge Jaxon's status through the Force. "She visits your grave frequently. She misses you, it was rough there for a while, I think, from what I've heard and can tell. She's…well she's happy now too. She fell in love with… someone else. Someone close."

"She deserves that too. To be happy like that." Jaxon was still smiling. "I loved her, very much. That was one thing I knew so clearly."

Mason didn't reply, he didn't really know what to say. He had a life so similar and yet so different to his brother. He wondered what life would have been like if Jaxon had still been alive.

Jaxon stopped next to one of the trees, holding out his finger so that one of the cardinals stepped onto it. "They've moved on, but they still remember me. They still love me so I'll never truly be gone. I'm okay with that." The bird chirped once and then flew back to its nest, red feathers fluffed. Jaxon laughed quietly. "Life was good. I loved a lot, and I know I was loved. I wouldn't have traded that for anything."

Jaxon turned to face Mason again, putting his hands on the other young man's shoulders. "It's time to wake up now, Mason Jay. I wish we had more time, but things to do, you know." His smile was soft and fond all at once, blue eyes twinkling in the white light. It'd be the last thing Mason saw there. Jaxon's last words ushered Mason out and echoed in his head.

"Keep being amazing…"

The winter wonderland faded around Mason, even if he didn't want to go just yet, he felt the pull from the world he knew. He blinked his eyes open.

"Mason!" Jenna's worried eyes flitted over her son's face and her hands cupped his face. "Baby, are you alright?"

"Hmm, yeah, fine," Mason breathed out. He was on the ground, with more questions than answers at this point. But it didn't matter. His mother was there, his dad not too far away. He was alive and his family was here with him.

Mason wordlessly wrapped his mother up in his arms, bringing her forcefully to his chest. His brown eyes were open and fixed on the mountain just over Jenna's shoulder. He reached through the Force, feeling his father and mother's signatures like a lifeline. He couldn't leave them. Everything was going to be okay. He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, speaking softly. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Mason, don't scare me like that again," she replied, cradling the back of his head with her hand. "Promise me."

"I promise."

And in the echoes of the wind around them, like a whisper in the distance, he heard Jaxon's joyful laugh.

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 **Disclaimer:** The Convergence Roleplay and any themes related to it belong to Rhya and Lena (links on profile). All OC's belong to their respective creators, all Canon Characters belong to their respective franchises and all credit for the fic itself goes to the Santa who wrote it.

 **The Convergence Roleplay:** Trapped in a new world, with no way out. Characters from 19 different worlds have been brought together and must struggle in a world that constantly creates more mysteries than it solves. With no new answers ever coming to light, they must start to wonder - is there really a reason why they're here?

The Convergence is a multifandom roleplay, featuring Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Harry Potter, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Vampire Diaries, The Hunger Games, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Divergence, Fox MCU, Star Trek, The Maze Runner, the DC Extended and Television Universes, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Mortal Instruments and House M.D and the various spin-offs. Check out the link in the profile for more information!


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